Recommended iOS apps

Living post

People like to ask for recommended iOS apps, so I'm making a list here. The prices change, so I won't mention them.

Utilities

Calculate postage, check post codes. It relies completely on an Internet connection, though.

WolframAlpha is the same as the website, which can calculate formulae or check statistics. It's been very useful for maths a few times. If you type in a name it states how popular it is, when it was popular and even the current age distribution. Sort of like Wikipedia, but not freely editable.

 

Consume is a utility to check your spending in various accounts e.g. phone or utility bills, even balance left in gift cards or track packages. It seems very useful, but I don't know how secure it is and it needs your passwords, so I haven't used it to track my personal bills.

Decibels is a utility to measure the sound level. Not sure if it's accurate, but it should be able to compare against itself.

Always wondered what those E-numbers in food additives mean? E-Adds is a reference. You can search by number and additive.

Have you seen these icons, maybe in App Store reviews? It turns out, all iOS devices have more than 400 emoticons built-in, but they have to be enabled. Search for emoji in the App Store. There are free apps to do it. Some old phones had icons like these built-in, they would display :) or :smile: as an icon, but they only worked with phones of the same brand/model. Now that the iPhone is so popular, these icons can be seen by more people.

Graphing Calculator plots graphs and functions as a normal calculator. I like it over the built-in calculator because it displays a list of previous calculations and answers that you can refer to.

Instant Heart Rate is an amazing app that measures your heart rate using the built-in camera. It works!

Everyone should have an LED torch app in their iPhone 4.

Metlink is an essential program for all who take public transport in Melbourne. Everything is stored offline. If you have GPS, it makes finding local stops easier, but the stop information isn't very accurate.

Nightstand is free, simple and tells the weather.

Nike+GPS is an app to measure your run. It lacks instructions: the lock icon in the top right locks your phone, making it act like it's really locked. Double tapping the screen when it's locked makes the app say your stats. The thing I like most about this app is it can display your route on a map. You can use it for walking or even cycling too.

Now with video calling!

Sensor Monitor provides output from almost all the readings in your iPhone, including accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, compass, microphone and even touch (with multitouch).

Everyone should have a QR code reader, even though QR codes are still pretty useless.

Games

Epic Citadel showcases the graphics capabilities of the iPhone/iPod Touch. It doesn't have any "game" yet, it's just an empty world to walk around in.

 

Angry Birds is my favourite iOS game. It has a ton of levels, so it's great value for money. Although you can finish the game by completing all the levels, compared to Fruit Ninja where you can play indefinitely (if you don't get sick of it), I prefer this. Try the free version first.

Cut The Rope is a cute puzzle game

Jet Car Stunts is a lot like Trackmania, which is one of my favourite PC games. They doesn't focus much on realism, but more on stunts like flying, jumps and loops.

NY Zombies has great graphics, music and a story too! You just stand in different locations and turn and shoot at zombies. There are upgradeable weapons. All the weapons I've tried are rechargeable, not single use, so don't worry about buying the grenade.

 Peggle is a bit like a slot machine.